Help Me
by Tanguay18
Summary: Grissom wakes up one morning to someone on his doorstep desperately seeking help. Does he end up finding love? COMPLETE! Final Chapter 14 is up.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own CSI or any of the characters from the show. If I did, this would be on TV and not on the internet.

**Help Me**

**Chapter One**

At approximately 11 AM, Gil Grissom's doorbell rang, ripping him from his slumber. Wearily, he managed to drag himself out of the comfort of his bed to answer the door. The sight that met his groggy eyes threw him off. Standing on his doorstep was a very disheveled and upset looking Sara Sidle. He stood aside and she moved wordlessly into his house. He closed the door and spun around to find her flopped on his couch.

"Sara, are you okay?" a very tired Grissom asked.

"No," came the weak response.

Grissom was unsure of what to do. His mind was still in a sleepy fog. He stood for a moment, very uncertain of what to do before moving to sit across from Sara.

"Want to tell me what's wrong?" he asked softly.

Sara swallowed the lump in her throat, "Gris, I just, I hate my life. I wish I could just crawl into a hole and die right now."

Grissom was shocked, "What?"

"I don't want to live anymore," Sara began to sob.

Grissom's mind was spinning. He moved to sit next to Sara on his couch. He stared into her eyes and saw that the fiery passion that had once been in them had been replaced with a sad, lifeless look. The look was so frighteningly dull that Grissom's heart broke for her. He gathered her into a comforting hug. She leaned into him and cried on his shoulder, letting sobs rack her body. She wasn't really sure why she turned to him of all people, but she was glad that he wasn't forcing her to talk right now. It was as if Grissom could read her thoughts and just silently let her cry.

When she was finally able to stop, she sat up and wiped the tears from her face. Grissom studied her face as she was preparing herself to speak. Her once sparkling brown eyes were now dull and lifeless. Her once bright smile was rarely seen in recent months. Thinking back on it, Grissom had noticed changes in Sara's manner for months, but tried to deny that anything was wrong.

"Sara, can you tell me why you are here?" Grissom asked.

"I would rather not," Sara turned away.

"You are the one who showed up on my doorstep," he reminded.

"I don't want to talk about it right now," she sighed.

"Come on Sara, you must have come to me for a reason," Grissom prodded.

"I. I can't even bring myself to say it," Sara looked into his eyes, trying to read him.

"Take your time," he tilted his head, "I can tell this is going to be hard for you."

Sara swallowed, "I do want to explain, but I don't know if I can bring myself to tell you. I know it will make you mad."

Grissom replied with silence. Sara leaned back heavily onto the couch and closed her eyes. She could feel his eyes on her.

"My life's been in a downward spiral for quite a while," Sara broke the silence, "I'm sure you saw it happening, like that night you picked me up when I'd nearly been arrested for DUI."

"I did see that you were in trouble, but I thought you were tough Sara, I thought you could handle this by yourself. I was wrong, I should have had more of a talk with you after I took you home, but no I just let you push me away and take that time off," Grissom shook his head.

"It's not your fault. I should have asked for help sooner, I should never have let myself sink as low as I did," Sara said angrily.

"I sense that there is more to your story," Grissom stated more as a question.

"I wish I could say that was my low point and from there I picked up the pieces of my life and cleaned myself up. But I actually sunk lower than that. I went back to California for a week in the time I took off. There was this one night...when I truly hit my low point," Sara slid to the far end of the couch, not wanting to look at him.

"What happened?" Grissom questioned gently.

Sara sighed heavily, "I went out to this bar. I got really drunk and this guy started talking to me. I thought he was pretty nice. So when it came time for me to leave, I knew I was in no shape to drive myself. He hadn't been drinking, so when he offered me a ride, I agreed."

"Sara," Grissom scolded.

"Let me finish. I know I'm stupid. I am such an idiot. Because just giving me a ride home is not what he had in mind," Sara paused, "he got me in the car and I must have fallen asleep. Next thing I knew, we were outside the city somewhere. It was dark and I was freaked out. I jumped out of the car, but I stumbled over something and twisted my ankle. He jumped on me and I tried to fight him off. But Gris, I was so drunk. I couldn't fight like I should have been able to."

Grissom looked fearfully at Sara, knowing where she was leading. She was breathing hard and trying her best not to face him. He just sat speechless and let her finish her story in her own time. Sara stood up suddenly and started to head for the door.

"SARA! Where are you going?" Grissom chased after her.

"I need to go home. This was a mistake," Sara reached for the door.

Grissom grabbed her arm, "Sara, calm down please."

"Let go of me!" Sara slapped Grissom angrily.

He stepped back in shock, a hand held up to his cheek in surprise. It wasn't so much that Sara had hit him hard, it just caught him completely off guard.

She froze as well, "Grissom. I...sorry. I didn't mean to hit you. I just. You grabbed me and I freaked out. I am sorry."

"It's all right Sara, you didn't hurt me," he stepped aside so she could re-enter the living room.

Tears stung at Sara's eyes, "See, I don't even know what's wrong with me anymore. I can't control myself. I can't believe I hit you."

"It's really okay, I promise. I just want you to tell me what happened because I think I know what you are leading up to," he sat her down gently.

Sara sniffled, "I fought him as well as I could in my drunken state, but he overpowered me. He...oh God. It's all flooding back to me now, the horrifying images."

Grissom took her hands in his own, "It's okay. You can tell me. Just don't rush yourself."

Sara grabbed at the box of Kleenex sitting on his coffee table and wiped the tears from her face, "He proceeded to r-rape me. God, I hate that word. I hate myself. I should have been able to fight him off. I should have been smarter than that. For God's sake I'm a CSI. I see things like this all the time and I'm so stupid I let this happen to myself. I hate him too. If I was sober I would remember what he looked like. But even now, I can see everything except for his face. Now I know this next part will make you angry with me, but please just let me try to explain. I was so freaked out, I just found my way to a gas station and had them call me a cab. I must have looked suspicious, but at that point, I just wanted to get to my hotel. I took a shower because I felt so dirty. Then I slept and in the morning it hit me that I destroyed evidence. I should have reported it to the police the night before, but my mind was clouded. The police did their investigation, but there was not a whole lot that they could do. I ruined the evidence. No one at the bar had seen the guy with me because we had been sitting in a dark corner near the exit. So I made sure that this news wouldn't get back to Vegas because I was so embarrassed at how I'd acted. I let myself be raped."

"Oh Sara," Grissom sucked in his breath sharply, "I had no idea that happened to you."

"That's not even the end of it," she looked up, her eyes filled with a mixture of anger and shame, "I went to see a doctor after I got back here and I discovered that I was pregnant with that bastard's baby."

Grissom was dumbfounded, "What? How?"

Sara continued, "So for the past few months I've been trying to hide it. And wrestling in my mind over what to do. I really don't want a baby. Not this way anyway. But I know I can't go through with an abortion. I'd be too guilty. I'm so stupid. I wish I could die."

"Sara, don't say that. You were raped. That is horrible. And you have been put in a terrible position, one I'd never wish on my worst enemy. But don't talk like that. You have so much to live for. You obviously do want to live if you took the trouble to come to me," Grissom told her.

"But what am I supposed to do? I can't raise a child by myself," Sara collapsed onto the couch.

"What about adoption? I'm sure there are plenty of couples out there who would love to get a baby," Grissom suggested.

"Maybe. That is probably the best idea. It means going through the pregnancy though. But what about work? I don't want to answer all the questions that there are bound to be," Sara buried her face onto Grissom's shoulder again.

"If you decide to go through with it, I'll help create a cover story, then I'd be willing to give you lots of time off work," Grissom offered.

"I don't know. I need to think about this," Sara mumbled into his shirt.

"Sara, this isn't your fault," Grissom stroked her hair.

"It _is_ my fault! I was stupid and drunk. I let a man take control of me. If I hadn't been drinking, this would have never happened," Sara growled.

Grissom sighed, "I don't know how to convince you that this is not your fault. But it isn't, Sara."

"Say that all you want, but I'm an idiot," Sara pulled away from him.

"Don't call yourself names, this is getting us nowhere. Why didn't you tell me sooner?" he asked.

"Because I was ashamed of myself. And I knew you'd be mad that I screwed up any chance of the guy being found," Sara sighed, "but I'm scared too. I'm scared, ashamed and upset all at the same time. I'm so conflicted!"

"Whoa Sara, I'm not mad at you, what makes you think that?" he asked softly, "I am sure that you were very frightened and in turn, didn't think things through like you should have. All of us lose our heads sometimes. Don't let this guy have such an effect on you."

"How can I not?" came the reply.

"I don't know. But the Sara Sidle I know is tough, she doesn't let anyone effect her like this," Grissom offered.

"Yes I do," she spat.

"What do you mean?" Grissom was confused.

"I let _you_ effect me," Sara turned away, "I let your rejection set me into this spiral."

Grissom was taken aback, "I... I'm sorry Sara. I didn't know I had that much of an effect on you. I didn't think I was that important to you."

"Well you are Gris, and now you know it," Sara started to cry again.

"Don't let me have that effect on you Sara, I'm just a foolish old man," Grissom said.

"I just wish I hadn't let my life get so out of hand," Sara sobbed.

"Well I'm here to help you get things back under control," Grissom said firmly.

"Thanks, I need lots of help," Sara scooted back closer to him.

Grissom put his arm around her in a protective fashion. He began to gently rub her back in an attempt to calm her down. He could tell she was still very upset. Sara leaned heavily upon Grissom and was glad for his just letting her cry on his shoulder. Sometimes she truly loved Grissom for being so understanding and for knowing just what he needed. Grissom found his remote and turned on the TV to some old murder mystery.

Sara turned to face the TV and sort of chuckled, "You really want to watch this?"

"What?" Grissom was confused, "what's wrong with it?"

"Because we solve murders and stuff for a living," Sara said.

"So? I like these kind of movies," Grissom said defensively, "besides, I like to pick out the little inaccuracies in their investigations."

Sara shook her head in slight amusement. Grissom was a true nerd sometimes, but then she supposed, that was part of his charm. She felt safe with his arm around her, his warm body next to hers. She slowly drifted off to sleep with Grissom absently rubbing her shoulder. Grissom fell asleep shortly after Sara did, his mind racing over the night's events.

A/N: I decided that it would be a good idea to try and re-write the first few chapters of the story and I changed some of the details a bit. Please let me know if the new version story is an improvement.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own CSI or any of the characters from the show. If I did, this would be on TV and not on the internet.

**Help Me**

**Chapter 2**

Grissom woke up suddenly and realized he was not asleep on his bed. He was surprised at first to discover a warm body leaning on his own. He finally remembered it was Sara and looked at his clock. He realized it was getting close to time for him to leave for work. He stood up and gently laid Sara back down on the couch. He slipped quietly away to his bedroom so he could shower and change for work. As he got himself ready he couldn't help but repeat Sara's words in his mind "I let _you _effect me, I let your rejection set me into this spiral." Those words had really struck home with him. This whole thing was his fault. He had said no to her when he should have said yes. He was so stupid sometimes, he didn't even understand why he'd rejected her. Now he felt that the only thing he could do for her was to help her straighten her life out again.

When Grissom was dressed and nearly ready to leave, he decided to wake Sara up to tell her he was giving her the night off to sleep. He thought she might protest taking the night off, but he'd just tell the others at the crime lab that she called in sick. He gently shook her shoulder, but she didn't wake up.

"Sara?" he called gently, "Sara?"

She still didn't stir. Beginning to worry, Grissom shook her harder and shouted at her, but she still didn't respond. He quickly checked her vital signs and found that she was breathing, barely but she was. He flipped the lamp next to the couch on and saw a pool of blood slowly forming on his couch.

"Oh my God, Sara!" he gasped searching frantically for his phone. He found it and his fingers fumbled over the buttons as he tried to dial 911. He calmed down enough to dial the phone properly. He kept a close eye on Sara as he spoke hastily to the operator. Her skin was very pale. Her cursed himself for not noticing that sooner, he had no idea how long she'd been bleeding.

Grissom threw open the door when he heard the doorbell ring, "Thank God, you're here."

"What do we have?" the head paramedic asked.

"Sara Sidle, LVPD CSI, I think she's having a miscarriage, she's bleeding heavily," Grissom explained quickly.

"Okay," they quickly examined her and loaded her onto the stretcher.

In a blur, Grissom watched as they loaded her pale, limp body into the ambulance. They drove away leaving Grissom in a mental haze. He remembered that at some point he'd heard them say Desert Palm. He knew he was not in the right mental state to be driving himself. He found his cell phone and dialed the number of the first person he thought of.

"Brass," Grissom heard at the other end.

"Jim, it's Gil," Grissom started shakily.

"Grissom, what's the matter?" Brass sensed something was wrong.

"Jim, can you come to my house and drive me to Desert Palm?" Grissom rushed.

"Whoa, Gil, slow down," Brass soothed, "what's up?"

"It's Sara. She showed up at my door earlier, anyway, she had to be rushed to the hospital, please come pick me up and I'll explain on the way," Grissom pleaded.

"All right, I'll be there as soon as I can," Brass hung up.

Grissom sat waiting impatiently for Jim Brass to arrive at his house. After what seemed like an eternity, he heard Brass' car pull into his driveway. He flew to the door and nearly knocked Brass over as he ran out the door.

"Let's go," Grissom drug Brass back to the car.

"Okay, calm down please, Gil," Brass worried about his friend, noting some blood on his hands.

"I'm sorry, I'm just concerned about Sara," Grissom sunk into the passenger seat.

"It's okay, now you want to tell me why there's blood on your hands? What exactly happened to Sara?" Brass inquired.

Grissom sighed, "She showed up at my door this morning, looking very upset. I let her in, wanting to make sure she was okay. You should have seen her, there was no way I wanted to let her go home in the state she was in. I was a little uncomfortable at first with one of my CSIs in my house, but she told me about what happened to her during the time she took off. I don't think I can go into the personal details, but we both fell asleep. I woke up and got ready for work. When I went to wake her up, to let her have the night off, she didn't wake up. I turned on the light and discovered she was bleeding, so I called an ambulance."

"Wow," Brass whistled, "did she cut herself or something?"

"No nothing like that," Grissom snapped, "I'm sure I can tell you the full story later, but right now, I don't think I should. Just trust me, Jim."

"I do, Gil," Brass looked hard at his friend, "we're almost there."

The remainder of the ride to the hospital was spent in silence. Brass was trying to comprehend the confusing details Grissom had given him and Grissom was just worrying about Sara. There had been so much blood when they took her away. He realized now there was even some on his hands, which he quickly rubbed off on his dark pants. He didn't really care about his appearance at the moment. Brass pulled into the parking lot and had to stop Grissom from jumping out of the car before it stopped. Grissom restrained himself, reminding himself that he should try to remain calm.

"Miss Sidle's in room 214," the admissions nurse directed them.

"Thank you," Grissom turned to head for the elevator.

Brass trailed Grissom still trying to figure out what exactly had happened to Sara. He knew that Grissom was trying to protect Sara somehow and that pressing him for information would be no good. The elevator opened to Sara's floor and Brass followed Grissom to her door.

A/N: I thought chapter two was mostly fine as it was. I changed a few small details, but it is mostly the same. Also, I am not a doctor so please don't tell me medical info is wrong, I have no clue what I'm talking about.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own CSI or any of the characters from the show. If I did, this would be on TV and not on the internet.

**Help Me**

**Chapter 3**

Grissom paused just outside Sara's door, causing Brass to slam into him.

"Sorry Gil," Brass apologized for not paying attention.

Grissom spun around to face him, "Can I go in by myself?"

"Sure thing Gil, I should get to the lab anyway. Shall I tell them you won't be making it in tonight?" Brass offered.

"Yes please," Grissom flashed him a brief smile.

"And what should I say about Sara?" Brass asked.

"Don't tell them where we are, they'll all try and rush over here, they need to finish shift without being distracted. Say Sara called in sick and I had family business to attend to," Grissom said, "they'll believe that for a night right?"

"Probably, but they are CSIs they'll figure it out if you both miss more than one night," Brass smirked.

"You let me worry about that Jim," Grissom said, "I think I should be the one to let the rest of them know what's going on with Sara. I want to make sure she is okay with letting you guys know what happened. She wasn't happy telling me, so I feel inclined to keep it quiet for now."

"Fair enough, I'll hope to see you tomorrow Gil," Brass turned to leave.

"Look, I'll call you after I am through here and explain it to you, you helped me out and you deserve to know what the heck is going on," Grissom stated.

"Sure, I'll be sure and keep my cell nearby," Brass pushed the button for the elevator.

Grissom turned to face the door again. He was for some reason afraid to go in, and so he just stood frozen outside the door for a moment. He began to wonder if Sara would be upset to see him. Then he realized he was the only one who know what happened to her and she was probably more afraid than he. So, he pushed the door gently open and moved into the semi-darkened room. Sara appeared to be sleeping, so he moved to the side of the bed quietly and took a seat in the battered chair next to her bed. She looked very pale next to the white sheets, her face nearly the same color.

"Gris?" she called out weakly.

"Yes Sara, I'm here," he replied, standing up.

"Good," she mumbled tiredly.

"Do you know what happened to you Sara?" Grissom inquired.

Her face showed no emotion, "Yes. I had a miscarriage. I'm so tired Gris."

"I'm sorry Sara," Grissom whispered, "you look so...so. My God, Sara, you scared me."

"I'm scared too," she whispered, then added grimly, "at least this matter has been decided."

"Don't think about that now," Grissom said softly, "I'm just glad that you are okay."

"Was it really that bad?" she asked alarmed.

"Let's just say that Jim Brass' head must be spinning right now. I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to explain the story to him, he gave me a ride here because I was too freaked out to drive."

"I trust him," Sara said.

"I won't tell the rest of the gang, I took the night off, I had Brass give them a story about me having a family emergency and you calling in sick," he explained.

"They'll be so suspicious," Sara narrowed her eyes, "if I know them, they won't buy that for a second. You're going to have to tell them the truth tomorrow."

"Well, for now, you just let me worry about that. You need to get some sleep sweetie, you must be exhausted," Grissom scanned her face.

"Okay. I _am_ tired," Sara yawned, "and thanks Grissom." Her mind was still moving slowly, but she could swear that Grissom had just called her 'sweetie'. He never said anything like that to anyone, let alone her. She was so tired, she didn't have much time to give it second thought, as she drifted off to sleep. The last day had been emotionally draining and then she woke up alone in the hospital. At least Grissom was at her side now.

Grissom sat back down in the chair that looked as though it had been used thousands of times. He studied her face while she slept. Even in her current state, she looked beautiful. Her skin was frighteningly pale, but still her features were the same as always. Grissom sighed deeply and wished he wasn't such a chicken when it came to emotional matters. He wished he had been brave enough to admit his feelings to her before. He couldn't understand himself sometimes. He had feelings for her and she had clearly had feeling for him, yet he pushed her away. He did not do well with his emotions and sometimes it really screwed important relationships in his life up. The only woman in his life he had ever really said 'I love you' to was his mother.

Sara hadn't been upset with him when she saw him. That caught Grissom by surprise somewhat. She had after all, informed him just hours ago that he was part of what set her into this downhill spin. He was just glad that she was giving him a chance, she was letting him be there for her in her time of greatest need. A lone tear slid down his cheek as he sat lost in thought. He wiped furiously at it, angry at himself for letting his mind wander too far.

* * *

Jim Brass arrived at the Las Vegas Crime Lab a little late for his normal shift. He knew that everyone was going to be waiting in the lounge for assignments. They were bound to be worried because Gil Grissom was never late. He walked in to find Nick Stokes, Warrick Brown, Catherine Willows and Greg Sanders pacing around the lounge. They all swung around to face him expectantly.

"Hey guys," Brass greeted.

"Where's Gil?" Catherine blurted out.

"He had some family business come up that he said he _had_ to attend to tonight," Brass waved off the question like it was no big deal.

"And what about Sara?" Greg asked, "she should have been here hours ago. She's always here before everyone else."

"Grissom said she called him earlier and she had the flu or something. She's not going to be here tonight either," Brass lied.

Catherine scrutinized Brass' face as he spoke, she sensed he wasn't entirely telling the truth, but decided to let it drop for the moment, "That leaves us awfully short-handed tonight. Maybe we could call Sara in anyway. She's never been too sick to work."

"No," Brass said a little too quickly, "I mean you don't even know how busy you are tonight, maybe it's a slow night. Besides, someone from dayshift should be on-call in case you need an extra pair of hands."

The four people in front of him eyed him suspiciously. They could all tell when someone was lying and Jim Brass was most definitely covering for someone. They weren't entirely sure who he was lying for, whether it was Grissom or Sara. Neither of the two CSIs missed work very often. They each made a separate decision to try and question him when they got to him alone. Brass instructed Catherine to go get the assignments from Grissom's desk and hand them out. He slipped away while she was out of the room to head to his scene of the night. He felt he had dodged the bullet for the time being, but he felt they all knew he was lying. He made a point to try to avoid them for the night.

Several hours later, Brass' cell phone rang. It was Gil Grissom finally calling to tell him the story of what had happened to Sara.

"Hey Gil," Brass answered his cell, careful to make sure none of the CSIs were around.

"Hello Jim. She is going to be okay," Grissom started.

"Thank goodness," Brass smiled into his phone, "did you get to talk to her?"

"Yeah, she was awake when I went in to see her. Very pale and tired, but she was awake. We talked a little and she said it was okay for me to tell you the whole story. So as I said, she showed up at my door looking very upset. I let her take her time to tell her story to me. What she said is very private and she told me she trusted you with it," Grissom started.

"I'm glad she feels she can trust me. I won't say a word to anyone," Brass promised.

"I trust you too, Jim," Grissom assured, "just beware that this story is upsetting. She told me that during her vacation she went out one night and got drunk. So this guy started coming on to her and she agreed to let him drive her home. Of course, he had other plans, she was just too drunk to realize it. He took her back to a remote area and raped her."

Brass slowly processed this news, "What? Why is this the first I'm hearing of this?"

"She was too upset and ashamed to tell us about it. She reported it to the police in California, but they had no evidence to find the guy and she couldn't remember him. Anyway, she found out later that she was pregnant from that. She has spent the last few months trying to hide it and decide what to do about it. So she came to me, as a cry for help," Grissom finished.

"Wow. On the one hand I am so mad, I want to go find the guy that did this to her and beat the stuffing out of him," Brass snarled.

"But you can't Jim, it's too late now, she has had a miscarriage," Grissom explained.

"Oh my God! Poor Sara, but she's going to be okay?" Brass was shocked.

"Yes, and that's what is important right now. Did the team buy our little lies?" Grissom inquired.

"I got the feeling they knew I was lying, but they didn't press the issue," Brass said.

"That's good, I guess. I will probably tell them the truth tomorrow, but not the rape part, they don't need to know that. I am afraid how they would react to that. They may not take it as well as we have, I know we're both mad about it, but they're younger and they may not take it as calmly as we have," Grissom yawned.

"Go home and get some sleep," Brass directed.

"I'm not going home for a while, but I'll try to sleep," Grissom said.

"Good night, Gil," Brass finished.

"Good night Brass," Grissom hung up his cellphone.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own CSI or any of the characters from the show. If I did, this would be on TV and not on the internet.

**Help Me**

**Chapter 4**

Sara woke up to find Grissom flopped over in a very uncomfortable looking position in the chair next to her bed. She smiled at him, he must have stayed there all night. It felt good to have someone watching over her. Grissom began to stir a few minutes later and looked confused as to where he was for a moment.

"Morning," Sara said.

"How'd you sleep?" he asked stretching his stiff body.

"I should ask you the very same question, that chair looks really uncomfortable," Sara noted.

"It is, but I didn't want to leave you," Grissom explained.

"Are you going to work tonight? I don't want to make you miss two nights in a row," Sara said.

"Yeah, I'm going in. And I heard from Brass that they really didn't buy my story about a family emergency. I had figured that they probably wouldn't. How much do you want me to tell them tonight?" Grissom asked.

Sara's eyes clouded over, "Nothing I would hope. But realistically, I know that I am going to be missing some time from work and they'll want to know the truth."

"I won't tell them you were raped, I'll just kind of gloss over the fact that you are..._were _pregnant," Grissom realized his mistake too late.

Sara squeezed her eyes shut, trying to fight back tears. She could see the apologetic look on his face. She hated being in this position. She wished she had made some better decisions in the past months. She also wished she hadn't said last night that this was his fault. While it was somewhat of a starting point, she was the one who decided to drink away her problems. She pushed away all of her friends. All this was too much for her and she began to sob violently.

Grissom jumped up to gather her into his arms. His heart broke in half again as she leaned heavily on him. He delicately sat himself on the edge of her bed. He stroked her back comfortingly and whispered softly into her ear.

"You'll be okay, it seems right now that your life is destroyed, but you can only go up from here."

"Can you do me one favor?" she asked through her tears.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Tell them not to come visit me. I can't face them right now. I love them, but I need some time before I can face them again," Sara begged.

"Sure, they'll probably fight tooth and nail, but I will be firm," Grissom squeezed her tighter.

* * *

Gil Grissom sat nervously in his office at the Vegas Crime Lab. He was not normally the type to get nervous before speaking to his colleagues, but this was not just some case he was about to tell them about. He was going to tell them that one of their own was in the hospital. He nearly jumped out of his skin when Catherine knocked on his door.

"Hey Gil," she leaned against the doorway.

"Hi Cath," he put on a fake smile.

"How's your family?" she asked.

"Huh? Oh, fine," he pretended to be busy at his computer.

"Right," Catherine responded, "is Sara still sick?"

"Yes. Can we talk later? I'm kind of busy," Grissom told her, hoping she'd leave.

"Sure Gil," Catherine raised her eyebrows suspiciously, but turned to leave. She could tell her presence was making him nervous, so she left. It was only about ten more minutes until he would come to brief his CSIs. She turned back to stare at him for a moment before finally leaving him alone.

Grissom was glad Catherine had left. He hated how well she was able to read him. No one was supposed to get close enough to him to be able to read his emotions. Catherine had known him far too long, longer than anyone in his life, in fact, except for his own mother. He stood from his desk and made the short walk to where his CSIs awaited him. They all fell silent when he entered, hoping he had something interesting to tell them. He quickly briefed them on their assignments and said he one more thing to tell them before he left.

"I have to tell you all the truth about where I was last night," Grissom started, getting straight to the point, "I'm not going to lie to you. I was at the hospital...with Sara. She showed up at my doorstep yesterday morning, very upset. I let her in and she informed me that she was pregnant. Anyway, I let her tell me her story and after she calmed down, we both fell asleep. I woke up last night to come to work, and she was still sleeping on the couch. I decided I'd give her the night off because she needed to rest. So when I went to wake her up and let her know I was giving her the night off and that I was leaving, I couldn't wake her up. I realized she was barely breathing and bleeding heavily. She had a miscarriage, lost a lot of blood. She's in the hospital for a few days. She'll be fine physically. She has told me strictly not to allow any of you to visit her, I'm sorry."

With that Grissom turned and left the four CSIs in the lounge speechless. None of them knew what to say. All of them were very shocked at that bit of information. No one had a clue that Sara was even pregnant. Now she was laying along in a hospital bed and she was pushing away all her friends, except for Grissom who no one would have expected to be the one she turned to. Brass entered to find the grim CSIs staring off into space.

"Let me guess, Grissom just finished with you?" he asked.

"Yeah," Nick spoke up.

"I'm sorry I had to lie to you last night, I was under a direct order from Grissom not to tell you the truth. He wanted to do it himself," Brass explained.

"It's all right Jim," Catherine said.

"We all know how Grissom can be," Greg put in.

"Did any of you know that Sara was pregnant?" Warrick asked.

"No," they all replied.

"God, I want to see her," Nick sighed.

"Me too, but if she says no, we should leave her alone," Catherine said, "no matter how much we all want to see her. She clearly needs some privacy right now."

"Poor woman," Greg mused, "first to be pregnant and then to lose the child. I'm guessing the father left her if she showed up at Grissom's house upset. Something clearly happened. Then she lost the baby in the same night."

"Let's at least send her a get-well card," Warrick suggested.

"Yeah that's a good idea," Nick agreed.

"I'll go buy one. I'm still waiting on DNA results from my case," Catherine announced decisively, "I'll bring it back here, we can all sign it and I'll send it with Grissom to Sara. You know he's bound to be going to see her again."

Catherine left the lounge to head to a drug store to find a good get-well card. She decided to stop a florist shop instead to send flowers as well. She knew that if she was in the hospital, she wouldn't mind some flowers to brighten the plain white hospital room. She spent nearly an hour flipping through the various get-well cards. Finally, she found one that she felt would fit Sara and purchased it along with a bunch of yellow roses.

Catherine took the card and flowers back to the crime lab and wrote a message to Sara, then left the card where everyone else could sign it. By the end of the night all the CSIs, Dr. Robbins, Hodges and all the other lab techs and people who knew Sara had written her a brief message. Catherine picked up the card and took it to Grissom.

"Gil," she knocked on his office door.

"Yeah Cath," he looked up.

"I bought this card for Sara, and I passed it around the lab. Everyone wrote a little message for her and I was hoping you'd take it to her. I figured you'd be visiting her before you went home," Catherine explained.

"Sure, I bet she'll like that," Grissom took the card from her.

"Oh, I also bought some flowers for her, I'll go get them," Catherine ran to grab them, then returned out of breath, "here they are."

"Wow, Cath, those look nice," Grissom eyed the roses.

"They're nothing. I can't imagine the emotions she's going through, I don't know what I'd be doing if I didn't have Lindsey," Catherine said, her eyes glistening with almost tears.

"I'm sure Sara will appreciate the sentiment," Grissom assured her.

"I wish she'd let us go visit her, I don't think I'll feel better until I see her," Catherine sighed.

"I'm really sorry, but she said to make sure no one sees her. She just doesn't want anyone to see her in her weakest state. You know Sara, she's tough. Or she pretends to be. I just want to make her happy. You should have seen her eyes when she came to see me," Grissom said.

"Just tell her we all care about her," Catherine told him.

"I will," Grissom promised.

Catherine left him alone and he opened to card, finding only one small space left to squeeze in a message himself. He pulled out a pen and thought about what to say. He almost decided not to write anything because it wouldn't matter as he was going to see her in person. He finally decided on a simple message as he penned "Sara, just remember how many people love you. Grissom"

A/N: Thanks again for your reviews.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I still don't own CSI or any of the characters from the show. If I did, this would be on TV and not on the internet.

**Help Me**

**Chapter 5**

Much of the rest of Sara's time in the hospital was spent either alone or with Grissom. He spent as much of his free time with her as he could. He was actually losing sleep to sit and talk with Sara. She was feeling more and more comfortable talking to him. She felt she could tell him almost anything. He had seen her at her lowest point and he wasn't ashamed of her. When it was time for her to go home, Grissom came to pick her up.

"Hey Sara, ready to go home?" he asked brightly.

"Yes," she replied.

"Good, I'm glad to see you going home. You have no idea how terrified I really was the other night," Grissom told her.

"I can only imagine," Sara sat up slowly from her bed. Her body was still weak and she was glad for the wheelchair that was going to take her to Grissom's car.

Grissom waited patiently while Sara got dressed in the clothes he had fetched from her locker at work. Finally, the paperwork for her release was completed and they were truly ready to go. A nurse wheeled Sara out to Grissom's waiting SUV and helped her into the front passenger's seat. Sara rested her head back on the headrest and shut her eyes for the ride home. When she opened them, she was surprised to find herself at Grissom's house again. She turned to him with a questioning look.

"Sara, you're still pretty weak and for a few more days, I'd feel better if you stayed with me," Grissom explained, "if you insist, I will take you home, but I think you should stay here."

Sara was slightly amused at the idea of Grissom practically begging her to stay at his house. Under any other circumstances, she would truly enjoy this. She was too tired to argue with him and was actually glad he offered. The prospect of staying alone in her apartment was not a great one.

"Sure," she said.

Grissom, slightly surprised at how easy that had been, went around to Sara's side of his SUV and opened her door, "Let me help you."

Sara took the offered hand and then wrapped an arm around his shoulder to help steady herself. She felt a little wobbly as they walked to his house and was glad that he was here to help her. She was very grateful that Grissom was able to read her so well, she hated to ask for help and he knew just when to give it to her. They stopped in his living room, the old couch already gone and replaced with a new one.

"Sorry about your couch," Sara said upon spotting the new furniture.

"Sara, don't worry about it. I'm just glad you're alive today," Grissom said seriously, "besides, that thing was old and it was about time I got a new one anyway."

Sara laughed weakly, "That other thing was pretty ugly."

Grissom laughed too, "I'm glad you are feeling well enough to joke with me."

Sara sat on the new couch and said, "Oh yeah, this one is so much more comfortable."

"I'm glad you like it," Grissom smiled.

"I've never had a leather couch," Sara ran her hand on the smooth material.

"Are you going to be okay sleeping on the couch? You are more than welcome to take my bed," Grissom offered.

"No no," she cut him off, "you're already being put out by letting me stay here, I'm not taking over your bed too."

"Okay," he agreed.

"I do appreciate you letting me stay here. I don't think I would want to be alone right now," she said quietly.

"I just want to help you," he explained, "are you hungry?"

"A little bit, yeah," Sara replied.

"I think I'll go make us some soup, does that sound good?" he offered.

"That does sound good," Sara leaned back into the soft backrest of the new couch. It was a nice leather couch. It was very comfortable. So comfortable in fact that before she knew it, she had drifted off into a light slumber.

Grissom returned to his living room several minutes later with a tray with two steaming bowls of tomato soup on it. He smiled at Sara's sleeping form on his new couch.

"Soup's ready," he said, startling her awake.

"Oh, man I can't believe I fell asleep. You were gone for what...ten minutes?" Sara said, somewhat embarrassed.

"It's okay, if you're tired, you're tired," Grissom sat next to her.

Grissom handed her a steaming bowl of soup and turned the TV on. He let her choose a show to watch. The ate their meals in relative silence. When they were done eating, Sara laid down on the other end of the couch, with her feet in Grissom's lap. She was fast asleep and he gently moved her feet, stood up and went to his own bed.

* * *

Sara woke up and it was dark in Grissom's living room. She was surprised to find a blanket covering her body. She grinned to herself, still amazed at how thoughtful Grissom could be. She glanced at the clock and saw that he was probably leaving for work soon.

As if he read her mind, Grissom entered the living room, "Hey sleepyhead."

"Hey Gris," she smiled sleepily.

"Did you sleep well on the couch?" he asked.

"Yeah actually. The last couch I slept on left me with a stiff neck, but this one is great," Sara said.

"Good. Well I have to go to work. There's plenty of food in the kitchen, and I kept in mind that you are a vegetarian when I went shopping. Feel free to sleep on my bed if you want, you have the remote for the TV right there. I have lots of books if you want to read, but I don't know if any of them will interest you, lots of stuff about bugs, you know," Grissom winked.

"Thanks, I'm sure I can keep myself entertained," Sara returned.

"I know they're going to be asking about you at work again," Grissom started, "everyday it's 'how is Sara?' or 'when is Sara coming back?'. They're truly crazy about you Sara."

Sara blushed slightly at that comment, "I can probably go back to work in a few days."

"Don't rush yourself into it," Grissom advised, "you may feel all right physically, but I'm sure you will be mentally tired for a while. I don't want you to go back too soon and realize you can't handle it."

"I won't rush myself. Don't worry about it," Sara flashed him a smile.

Grissom was glad to see her beautiful smile again, "Well I'll be seeing you tomorrow morning then."

"Bye Gris, and thanks again for helping me out," Sara called after him.

Sara wasn't sure, but she thought she heard him mumble something like, "I'd do anything for you Sara."

A/N: Chapters 5 through 7 are pretty much the same and that's why they are coming so fast. I didn't really need to remove them, but I did, so here they are again.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I still don't own CSI or any of the characters from the show. If I did, this would be on TV and not on the internet.

**Help Me**

Sara slept through the night on Grissom's couch and woke up about an hour before he got off work. She sat up and looked around his living room. He hadn't been kidding when he said there was lots of bug stuff. About half of his enormous book collection were entomology books. If you could tell one thing about Grissom from his living room it was that he loved bugs. She carefully lifted herself off the couch and moved to the bookshelf. She found a book sort of hidden between several entomology books, sliding it out of its spot on the shelf, she discovered it was a yearbook. Sara was completely surprised to find a high school yearbook in Grissom's collection. He did not strike her at all as the type to have a yearbook. She took it back to the couch and sat down.

Sara blew the dust off the cover of the book and began to flip through the pages. She laughed at the way the kids had their hair and clothing styles. Then she reminded herself it was the early seventies when Grissom went to high school. She only glanced at the underclassmen, she had figured out this was Grissom's senior yearbook. The only thing she really noticed out of place was that there were no autographs on any of the autograph pages. She finally found the G page of the senior class. She scanned down the side to find Gilbert Grissom. Her eyes moved quickly across the page to spot her friend. He looked much younger, yet still like the Grissom she knew. His smile looked forced and like that was really not where he wanted to be. Sara thought he looked sort of cute at that age, but far more serious than the students around him. Until now, Sara had had a hard time picturing Grissom in high school. He looked like the quiet, studious type. That wasn't really a surprise to her, but for some reason she had always had a hard time picturing his face. He did look much more youthful, not like now, his face was old and tired. He had seen so much in the intervening time that would make anyone look old.

She finished looking through the yearbook and found Grissom in the science club. It was the only extra-curricular activity he had been involved in at the school. Of course, in his teens he had spent a lot of time working with the Los Angeles Coroner's Lab. Only a child like Grissom would help perform autopsies after school. Sara entirely lost track of time and nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard the door open.

"Hello Sara, what have you got there?" Grissom asked as he came in.

"Hi, it's your senior yearbook," Sara's face visibly grew pale as she feared he'd be angry.

"Oh, my mom bought that thing for me. I insisted that it was unnecessary, but she bought it anyway. It's been on my shelf since the day I got it," Grissom explained.

Feeling relief that he was not angry, Sara stood up to return the book to its spot on the shelf, "I was just looking through your books and I spotted that. I thought it would be interesting to see what you looked like in high school."

Grissom laughed, "Just don't tell anyone else you saw me, were those clothes back then ridiculous or what?"

Sara grinned, "You weren't too bad. It's some of the other kids. I can't believe so many people really had afros!"

"The seventies were a bad decade as far as clothes and hairstyles went," Grissom made a face, "I never really went in for any of it."

"You sure don't strike me as the type to go for that stuff," Sara agreed, "when I was in high school it was big hair. And I remember when I was in middle school, some of my teachers wore those hideous plaid pants."

"Ah, I remember people wearing those. I never understand that one. I thought those things were so ugly. I thought maybe people wanted to look bad," Grissom sat tiredly on his couch.

"Can I make something for breakfast? You look like you had a long night," Sara observed.

"Yes, we've got a tough case. The police are calling the guy 'Raspy Robber' because he has a raspy voice according to everyone who has been interviewed. He has hit several small stores in the last week. Two liquour stores, a laundromat and a small restaurant. He's not leaving us many clues. We just know all the cases are connected because of his raspy voice," Grissom rubbed his temples.

"That sounds almost like something you'd see on a TV show or something, 'the Raspy Robber'," Sara almost laughed until she caught the tired glare from Grissom.

"Well it's not on TV, and it's starting to really bother me," Grissom sighed, "not a single lead. The shots on video surveillance are too fuzzy to really see his face very clearly."

"I'm sorry it's giving you such trouble. What sounds good for breakfast then?" Sara changed the subject.

"I'm not that hungry, just a bowl of cereal is good for me," Grissom said.

"Okay, one bowl of cereal coming up," Sara headed into the kitchen.

Grissom leaned back into the couch. Sara was right, it _was _really comfortable. So comfortable in fact that he was nearly asleep when Sara popped her head back into the room.

"Uh Gris, where _is_ your cereal?" she asked sheepishly.

"In the cabinet above the fridge," Grissom told her.

"Okay, I'll be back in a minute, try not to fall asleep," she teased.

Sara returned a couple minutes later with a bowl of cereal for him. She sat it on the coffee table and then went to get her own. They ate their cereal together, with Grissom describing his 'Raspy Robber' case in more detail. The suspect was a middle-aged white male with medium build and a raspy voice. In each case the man uses a gun to hold up whatever store he happens to be targeting. There had been four robberies connected to the man this week alone. Catherine and Warrick were on the case with him, but they were not finding any trail of evidence. It was a matter of hoping they could either find something at an old scene or he'd get careless and leave something at a new scene.

"Thanks for the delicious breakfast Sara," Grissom joked as she stood up to return their empty bowls to the sink.

"I slaved in the kitchen for three minutes," Sara laughed.

"I think it's time for me to go to bed," Grissom stood slowly.

"You look tired," Sara agreed.

"And this couch is trying to make me fall asleep," Grissom smiled, "so I better get off to bed."

"Good night, or morning. Whatever, just sleep well," Sara laughed.

* * *

Sara was sleeping on the couch again when Grissom woke up that evening. She seemed to be having a dream because she was flopping around a lot. He watched her with interest for a moment, before going in the kitchen. He was looking for something to have for dinner when a scream pierced the silence. He bolted to the living room to see a very confused Sara sitting up on the couch.

"Sara, you okay?" he asked.

"I-I had a nightmare," she responded breathlessly, "it was terrible."

Grissom could see pain in her eyes as she moved to sit with her, "Want to tell me about it?"

"Just give me a minute," she visibly tried to calm herself down.

"Take your time," he said softly.

Sara began to speak, her voice shaky as she was on the verge of tears, "I dreamed about that night. I was raped all over again. It was awful. I can't even describe the feelings."

Grissom moved to put a comforting arm around her, but she jumped up.

"Don't touch me," she sobbed.

"I'm sorry," he looked into her eyes. They were filled with fear and pain.

"No, I'm sorry. It's not you, I just, I feel. I don't want you to touch me right now is all," she tried to explain.

"It's okay Sara, I won't hurt you," he stood up.

"Please, leave me alone right now," she ran to the bathroom and slammed the door shut.

Grissom was left in a cloud of confusion. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do in this situation. She said to leave her alone, but clearly she needed comfort. He stood outside the bathroom door and upon hearing her sobs, he knocked on the door.

"Sara, can I come in?" he asked gently.

"Can't you leave me alone?" she yelled.

"Sara, you have no need to be afraid of me, I just want to help you," Grissom explained softly.

He was met by silence. A minute later the door opened, and Sara threw herself into his arms.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what's wrong with me," she wrapped her arms tightly around him.

"It's okay, you are clearly still traumatized by that experience," Grissom soothed.

"I thought I was over it, but that dream seemed so real. It's like I went through it again," Sara sighed heavily.

"Maybe you should see a counselor," Grissom started.

"No," Sara cut him off, "I can't talk to a stranger about my problems, it just doesn't work for me."

Grissom just let her cry on his shoulder. He felt really bad for her and wished there was something, anything he could do for her to take her pain away. Instead he just stood outside the bathroom with her, embracing her as she poured her heart out through her eyes. After several minutes she pulled back, her eyes puffy and red.

"Can you take me to my place before you go to work?" she asked.

"Yes, but what for?" Grissom questioned.

"If I'm going to be staying at your house I will need some of my own things, clothes and such," Sara explained.

"Sure, we can go right now," Grissom offered.

"All right, let's go," Sara walked away.

Grissom stood staring after her for a moment. Sara left him in such a whirlwind sometimes. One minute she had been sobbing on his shoulder, the next she wanted to go get her things from her apartment. Realizing he was still standing outside the bathroom, he chased after Sara to drive her home.

A/N: The 'Raspy Robber' is ripped from the headlines in Denver. I was watching the news the other night and there is a really a guy who has robbed 19 different places recently. He has a hoarse voice so they have nicknamed him the 'Raspy Robber'. I just kind of borrowed the idea of it for the case Grissom is working on. UPDATE Since writing this chapter, the real life suspected 'Raspy Robber' has been caught and taken to jail.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I still don't own CSI or any of the characters from the show. If I did, this would be on TV and not on the internet.

**Help Me**

**Chapter 7**

Grissom decided it was best not to bring up Sara's nightmare again unless it was her idea. She didn't seem to want to even acknowledge that it had happened. He kept a close eye on her when he was around, but she seemed to be doing okay. She spent her days watching movies, the ones she had brought from home, and reading books to pass her time. She slept at nights when Grissom was at work. He wondered whether she did so to hide any further nightmares or just did so to hide any further nightmares or just because for so many years she didn't have the choice to sleep at night and had to sleep all day.

Sara decided one night while Grissom was gone that it was probably about time for her to go home. She gathered her things that were scattered throughout his living room. She washed all of her laundry and the blanket she had been using. She sat waiting for him to come home.

"Hello Sara," Grissom entered his home, looking more tired than ever.

"Gris," she started soberly, "I think it's time for me to go home."

"What?" he asked.

"I have imposed on you for way too long now, I think I will be okay to go home now. I am feeling healthy and I think I would feel better if I was in my own place," Sara explained.

Grissom closed his eyes for a moment, "Fine. I'll drive you."

"You're not going to argue?" Sara asked with surprise.

"No, I'm too tired and I think you are probably right," Grissom picked up her overnight bag full of clothes and held the door open for her.

"Are you awake enough to drive me?" Sara studied his sleepy eyes.

"Yes, I've stayed up far longer than this, I'm just getting frustrated with my case," he assured her.

"All right," Sara slid into the passenger's seat of his SUV.

"I promise I'm awake, the caffeine from the coffee I drank is just kicking in," he explained.

"I trust you," Sara flashed him a quick smile.

The ride to Sara's apartment complex was a short, quiet one. Neither one knew what to say. Sara stared straight ahead out the windshield. Grissom pulled into an empty parking space and turned off the engine. He turned to Sara and wanted to say something, but was at a loss for words. Sara could sense that he wanted to speak and stared back at him expectantly.

"Look, I really appreciate what you did for me," Sara started, "if I hadn't been at your house when I started bleeding..."

"Don't think about what might have happened if you were home alone," Grissom cut her off.

"Anyway, you really helped me through a tough time. I am glad that someone was there for me when I really needed help. And I'm really glad that it was you. I figured you would be best suited to give me the kind of help I needed and that's why I came to your house," Sara stated.

"I'm just glad that I could help you out, Sara," Grissom looked into her eyes, "take care of yourself."

"I will," she smiled as she stepped out of his vehicle.

Grissom sat and waited until Sara was inside her apartment building before he drove away.

* * *

"Who do you think the father is then?" Greg asked.

"I don't know, she never really talked about going on dates or anything," Nick said.

"You two wouldn't be talking about Sara, would you?" Grissom came into the locker room.

"We were," Greg's eyes grew large.

"It's none of your business!" Grissom snapped, "what gives you the right to speculate about her personal life?"

"Whoa, Grissom, we were just concerned about one of our co-workers, a friend," Nick jumped up defensively.

"If you were so concerned about her, you would go directly to the source and not sit here in the locker room talking about her behind her back! I thought you two were better than petty gossip," Grissom seethed.

"What's your deal, Gris? Why are you so protective of Sara?" Greg asked meekly.

Grissom's tone lightened up, "Sara came to me for help, I care about her. I care about all of you. You're my family," Grissom explained, "so when one of my family members comes to me for help, I do my best to protect them. Do me a favor guys, don't talk about her like that anymore."

"Sorry Gris, we won't," Greg squeezed between the two men to leave.

Nick stood menacingly for a moment, "Fine ."

Grissom shook his head. He could understand that they were lacking in details about what had happened to Sara. He just didn't like the way they were talking about her as if she was the latest drama on TV. He sat down for a moment to clear his head. He had maybe overreacted a little. He believed that Nick and Greg were concerned about Sara. He just didn't want anyone saying anything that could get back to her and hurt her. He knew she was still in a fragile emotional state, though she'd never admit it.

After a few minutes had passed, Grissom stood to go back to his office. He nearly bumped into Catherine in the hallway.

"Hey Gil," she smiled brightly.

"Hello Catherine," Grissom returned.

"How are you?" she inquired.

"Fine. How about yourself? And how about Lindsey?" he replied.

"I'm good. Lindsey seems to have finally calmed down and realized that she could get into serious trouble," Catherine explained, "we had a real heart-to-heart without yelling at one another. She said she didn't know why she was so mad at me, and that we should both work on trying to get along better."

"That's good to hear," Grissom smiled.

"How about Sara, is she doing all right?" Catherine asked.

"Yes actually, she went home this morning. I took that as a good sign. If she wants to be at her own place, she must be feeling much better," Grissom said.

"Good. I wonder when she'll be coming back to work," Catherine mused.

"Not before she's ready, I won't let her come to work if she can't handle it," Grissom said, "she may be stubborn, but I think I can be a little more than she can."

Catherine laughed, "Are you proud of how stubborn you can be?"

Grissom crossed his arms, "No. I'm just saying in this case, it will be a good thing. I can't have her coming back to work and then breaking down at a scene or anything like that. Physically, I think she's ready, but emotionally...it might take some more time."

"I can only imagine. Maybe she needs to take another vacation, fly home or something. Get away from Vegas for a week or so to clear her mind," Catherine suggested.

"You know that's not a bad idea. She doesn't have any more vacation or sick days, but since I'm the supervisor and these are extenuating circumstances, I'd say I can arrange for that," Grissom thought out loud.

"I think someone else around here could use a vacation," Catherine placed a hand on his arm.

"Me? What makes you say that Cath?" Grissom inquired.

"You just seem extra tired and easily irritated these days. It would do us all some good if our supervisor was in a better mood," Catherine said honestly.

"You're probably right about that too, but I don't think the lab can handle both of us vacationing at the same time, I'd have to give Sara first priority," Grissom started.

"Honestly, if we had one extra person to cover, I think we'd be fine. We've been fine without Sara for a week," she pointed out.

"Are you trying to get rid of me?" he cocked his head to the side.

"No, not at all. I'm just concerned about you, Gil," she returned.

Grissom narrowed his eyes, "Right. Anyway, I've got to be getting to my office. I have some paperwork to fill out before shift officially begins."

Grissom's mind was racing as he headed back to his office. Maybe he could manage for them both to take a week off. He didn't know what Sara would think of it, but he wouldn't mind going on a trip with her. He didn't think she should be traveling on her own. He decided to mention the idea to her when he picked her up for breakfast the next morning. Good old Catherine, had she not mentioned that he probably wouldn't have encouraged Sara to go off by herself. Not that he didn't trust her, he just wanted to be with her and help her out if she needed him. They wouldn't even have to stay in the same hotel room, wherever they went. The more he thought about the idea, the more he liked it.

A/N: The next chapter will be a new one again. I thank you for bearing with me while I fixed the first few chapters.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I still don't own CSI or any of the characters from the show. If I did, this would be on TV and not on the internet.

**Help Me**

**Chapter 8**

"Gris, I can tell something's on your mind. You seem very distracted," Sara observed as they were finishing up their breakfast together.

Grissom's head shot up, "Am I that obvious?"

Sara nodded, "You seem a little extra quiet today."

"Oh. Well, Catherine made me think of something interesting today," Grissom said.

"What?" Sara inquired.

Grissom took a deep breath and paused, unsure of whether he should really propose this idea to Sara, "She was just saying how she thought you could use a vacation, a real trip away from Vegas. Just go somewhere and have fun. I know you are out of vacation and sick days, but I would let you take a week off anyway. I want you to be fully rested and ready to go when you come back to the lab."

"I don't know where I'd go," Sara sat her fork down.

"That's not all, you know Catherine, she can be so persuasive," Grissom continued, "she said that I should take a vacation too. She says I've been extra tired and irritable lately. I guess I have been on edge. So I was uh, thinking, you know maybe..."

Sara looked at him expectantly, amused at his trouble speaking. He never tripped over his words and whatever he was about to say was clearly very hard for him.

"You know, I think maybe we should finish this conversation in private," Grissom finally recovered.

Sara's eyes grew wider, "Okay. If you say so."

"It's nothing bad I promise," Grissom assured, catching her nervous look, "I just don't think this place is the best place to have a private conversation."

"So, where should we go?" Sara asked.

"Why not just back to your place since I'll be dropping you off anyway?" Grissom suggested.

"Works for me," Sara smiled.

"SARA!" Greg bounded up to their booth, "Sara, Sara, how are you?"

"Whoa Greg, down boy," Grissom laughed.

"Sorry, it's just so good to see you Sara," Greg grinned widely.

Catherine, Nick and Warrick strolled up to join Greg.

"Hi guys," Sara smiled weakly.

"It's good to see you Sara, we've been worried about you, you know," Catherine told her.

"Why don't you guys go ahead and sit down, I know you're dying to," Grissom instructed.

Two of the CSIs slid into the booth, Nick and Greg pulling up chairs. They all looked slightly embarrassed at having interrupted a private meal, but this _was_ the diner they frequently ate at after shift.

The waitress arrived, looking a little flustered at so many new people at the table, to take their orders. Once she was through, they all wanted to talk to Sara.

"Are you feeling better?" Nick asked.

"Yes, Nicky, I'm feeling much better than I was a few days ago," Sara answered.

"Good to hear, we have really been missing you at the lab," Warrick told her.

"Yeah, so when are you coming back?" Greg inquired.

"I'm not sure yet. I still need some time off," Sara said.

"Don't rush her Greggo," Catherine warned.

"I'm sorry, it's just that it doesn't seem right without you around Sara," Greg narrowed his eyes at Catherine for acting like his mommy.

"Greg's right, it seems weird without you there," Nick smiled.

"It'll be good to come back to you guys when I do, you're like my family," Sara smiled, "and I'm sorry for banning you all from seeing me. I didn't think I could handle all the questions you were bound to have for me. I am still having a hard time with this."

"It's okay Sara, we understand that you went through a lot of emotional stress," Warrick assured her.

"No questions, we'll just be open for you to talk to any of us if you need it," Catherine offered.

"Thanks guys," Sara leaned gratefully back into the booth.

They chatted for a few more minutes before Grissom and Sara got up to leave, having finished their meals shortly after the rest of the gang showed up.

------------------------------------------------------------

Once they were safely inside Sara's apartment, she offered him a spot to sit down. Grissom sat uncomfortably, running over what to say and how to say it in his mind.

"So, what is this about a vacation you were saying?" Sara inquired.

Grissom smiled slightly, "Am I ever glad I decided to wait to say what I was about to say. I wouldn't have wanted the whole team there."

Sara furrowed her eyebrows, "Now you've just got me confused Grissom."

"Sorry, I just have a lot of things on my mind at once. I am not sure which part to start with," Grissom breathed heavily.

"Now you've said to me plenty of times not to be afraid to share what I was thinking with you, the same goes for me," Sara offered gently.

"You're right. What I was about to say, or was trying to say...would you be interested in taking a vacation together?"

Sara's eyes widened again, "What did you just say?"

Grissom's eyes shot up to meet hers, "I was just thinking that since both of us need to take a vacation. And I thought maybe we could go together. So you have someone familiar to talk to if you need."

"Okay. I just wasn't sure I was hearing things right," Sara studied his eyes, "you want to protect me?"

"Sort of," Grissom said nervously.

"That's really sweet of you. I think we could go somewhere together. Of course you can't tell the lab, they'd have a field day with that, thinking we are on a honeymoon or something. They all seem to think that we are in love or something," Sara laughed.

"As long as we're being so honest with each other...I do think I have feelings for you, Sara. I have for a long time, but I recently realized what an idiot I was for not accepting them sooner," Grissom closed his eyes, surprised at his own boldness.

Sara was dumbfounded, never having expected those words from his mouth, "Gris? You really still have feelings for me? I thought you didn't care for me that way. I still have feelings for you too."

"That's what I was afraid of," Grissom cast his eyes away from her.

"What?" Sara was puzzled.

"You're too good for me Sara," Grissom mumbled.

"Are you crazy?" she asked softly, as he turned his face to meet her gaze again.

"No Sara. I don't deserve someone like you," he sighed.

"Whatever makes you think that?" Sara studied his blue eyes.

"I've hurt you so many times. I'm afraid that if we were to try a relationship, I'd just end up hurting you again. I'm no good at this stuff Sara," Grissom lowered his head.

Sara reached out and gently raised his face, "Gris, you _are_ nuts. I've always felt that I was the one who wasn't good enough for you. I'll admit you have hurt me before, but that was partly my own fault for wearing my heart on my sleeve."

"Sara, it's not your fault that I am afraid of affection," Grissom sighed.

"I think we both have some definite issues," Sara smiled.

Grissom cocked his head, "So you would still have me?"

"Gris, you saw me at my lowest point in my life. You weren't afraid to help me. You were there for me just when I needed someone the most. You didn't turn away and shun me. If anything, I feel like I should be ashamed when I look into your eyes, but I'm not. I see that you truly care for me. I can see that in your eyes, the way you look at me," Sara explained.

"I was amazed that when you needed help so badly you turned to me. I have always ended up pushing you away, but still you came back to me," Grissom whispered.

"I think it's because I still cared about you that I came to you," Sara said.

"Really?" it was his turn to be surprised.

Sara nodded, "Yeah. I could have gone to anyone for help, but I wanted to go to you. Maybe it's finally time for us to try a relationship."

"I agree. It's been way too long. We've played our stupid games. I think we need to be adults and admit the truth. I have had feelings for you since the day I saw you," Grissom admitted.

"I've had feelings for you for quite a while too," Sara said.

"I guess I'm just having a hard time believing it," Grissom explained, "after all the times I've turned you away and hurt you. Yet here you are, sitting in front of me, telling me that you still want me. I'm also kind of scared. I don't know, the word 'relationship' is a little frightening."

"Love is a complicated thing," Sara offered, "that's got be the only explanation for it all these crazy feelings.. I have a hard time believing this too. I think the best way is to take this slowly. We can figure it out together."

"This has been weighing on my mind all morning, that's why I was acting funny earlier at the diner," Grissom explained.

"I figured as much," Sara grinned warmly at him.

"I can't believe I just admitted all that to you, my heart is pounding," he said.

"Mine too," she admitted, "but I think it's a good thing. What do you say we pick out a movie to watch?"

"Sure, sounds like a date?" he stated, more as a question.

"I think so. If you want it to be that is," Sara returned.

"Okay, let's go pick out a movie," Grissom stood, offering Sara his arm.

"I'll pop us some popcorn," Sara said when they had picked out a movie to watch.

"Okay," Grissom went to put the movie into her DVD player.

A few minutes later, Sara entered the living room with a bag of freshly popped popcorn, two cans of pop and a blanket slung over her shoulder.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Ready whenever you are," he returned.

Sara sat on the couch and Grissom lifted his arm so she could snuggle up to his body. She then spread the blanket over them as Grissom pressed play. They settled in to watch the movie, munching on popcorn. They didn't speak much, but it felt good to be close to each other. About halfway through the movie, Sara felt her eyelids getting heavier and heavier. At first she tried to fight it, but before she knew it, she was asleep. Grissom smiled and studied her face as she slept.

"You're so beautiful Sara," he whispered.

"Mmmm," she mumbled in response.

Before too much longer Grissom was asleep too.

A/N: Would have been posted sooner, but Document Manager was down when I went to upload this.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I still don't own CSI or any of the characters from the show. If I did, this would be on TV and not on the internet.

**Help Me**

**Chapter 9**

Grissom stood in front of his CSIs to make an announcement, "I know I have been on edge lately and that has probably put some of you guys on edge too, and I apologize for it. I need a vacation, I haven't had one...well I don't remember the last time I took one."

"Never," Catherine muttered to Nick who was sitting next to her.

"Doesn't surprise me," Nick whispered back.

"Are you sure you're feeling all right Grissom?" Greg asked.

"Yes I'm fine, why?" Grissom furrowed his eyebrows.

"I just thought you must be feeling sick if you're considering taking time off work," Greg snickered, "you _do_ practically live here!"

Grissom shot him an un-amused glance, "Anyway, I am taking a week off to help relieve the stress around here. Catherine, you're in charge of the shift while I'm gone. Someone from dayshift has volunteered to move to our shift for a week, they are overstaffed right now."

"When is Sara coming back?" Warrick piped up.

"I don't know. She's taking another week at least to rest. I told her not to rush herself back to work," Grissom explained.

"So we'll be without you _and _Sara for a week?" Catherine asked skeptically.

"You guys will be fine, Cath, I know you can run this place and the fill-in from dayshift is more than capable of helping you out," Grissom said with a tone of finality, "my vacation time is not up for debate. I'm the supervisor, I have plenty of vacation time coming to me, I am going to take it."

"Where will you be going?" Greg asked.

"I'm not telling you. The last thing I need is for the lab calling me every day when I'm gone. I will take my pager and cell phone, but those are strictly for emergencies," Grissom gave them a firm stare.

"I'll make sure they are too busy to think of bothering you," Catherine smiled at the crew.

"I'm sure you will," Grissom smirked at his more-than-able replacement.

"It's going to be weird with you gone for a whole week. For as long as I have been here, you haven't wanted to take time off. The only 'vacations' you took were forced because you work too much," Warrick said.

"Okay, time to get to work. The Raspy Robber struck again, twice tonight. Catherine, Warrick you guys have a small restaurant on the strip. Greg, you're with me at a gas station about a block from here. Nicky, you're going solo tonight, a missing person case," Grissom handed out the assignments.

"This is getting old, I hope we can catch this guy. We're up to what, twelve robberies now in a span of a couple weeks?" Warrick sighed.

"The problem is the guy isn't leaving us much to go on. He always seems to know where the security cameras are and manages to avoid them. He wears gloves to avoid leaving fingerprints. He knows what he's doing," Catherine shook her head.

"Just keep your patience, one day he will make a mistake," Grissom assured them, "let's head out guys."

The CSIs crowded out of the lab and headed off to their separate crime scenes of the night. Greg and Grissom spent their short drive in silence. When they arrived at the scene, they were met by Jim Brass.

"It's definitely him again," Brass greeted the CSIs.

"Where's the store clerk?" Grissom asked.

"Right over here," Brass lead them to a frightened man.

"I'm Gil Grissom, Vegas Crime Lab," Grissom introduced himself, "can I ask you some questions?"

"Yes sir," the man replied.

"Did you see the robber's face?" Grissom pulled out a notebook to write answers in.

"Not very well sir," the man said, "he had a hood pulled down over his face."

"Can you describe what you did see of him to me?" Grissom questioned.

"He was a little taller than you, heavyset. Appeared to be in his forties, I'd guess. His beard was starting to go gray," the clerk described, "he was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans."

"Very good, and his voice?" Grissom asked.

"Raspy sir," the clerk said.

"Sounds like the Raspy Robber all right," Grissom shook his head, "thank you sir."

"Is that all you needed?" the clerk asked.

"Wait, what did he take?" Grissom inquired.

"He made me empty out the cash register, fortunately I'd just taken most of the cash back to the safe, so he didn't make off with much," the clerk seemed almost proud of himself.

"And what was your name?" Grissom asked.

"Jack Rains," the clerk supplied.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Rains," Grissom flipped his notepad shut, "Greg, time to go look for evidence. I'll take the surveillance video."

* * *

Early the next morning, a quiet knock came on Sara's door. She smiled as she opened the door to Grissom.

"Hey," she greeted him.

"Ready to go?" he asked.

"Yep," Sara showed him her suitcase.

"That's it, just one suitcase?" Grissom raised eyebrows.

"Yeah," Sara answered slightly confused, "why?"

"I don't know, I was under the impression that women never traveled lightly I guess," Grissom laughed.

"Guess I'm not like most women then, am I?" Sara handed him the suitcase and pulled the door to her apartment shut.

"Oh you are much better than the average woman," Grissom gave her a genuine smile.

"I'm still not used to you saying things like that," Sara blushed. They had gone out to dinner a couple times in the week before they left for their vacation.

"It's true Sara," Grissom smiled as he loaded her suitcase into his SUV.

"I guess it just seems weird to me that after all this time, we are actually in a relationship together," Sara tried to explain.

"It's okay, I understand what you mean. The idea of there being an 'us' will take some time to adjust to," Grissom said.

"Yes. I'm glad you want to take this slowly too," Sara slid into the passenger's seat.

"I don't know how slow you can consider going away together for a week," Grissom teased.

"It's not like we're staying in the same room though," Sara shot back.

They were going to stay in a small cabin in a Colorado mountain town. As it was early fall, they would be in for quite the treat as far as the changing leaves. The cabin was on the edge of a crystal clear lake and there was a peak visible in the distance that was usually capped with snow in the fall months. Grissom had found it in a travel brochure. Both of them decided it would be a peaceful place to spend a week. There were a few other cabins around, but tourism was in a lull at the time. It was between the summer hikers, mountain bikers, and campers and the winter skiers. The week should prove to be very restful for them.

Grissom parked his vehicle in long term parking at the airport. They began the rather lengthy process of going through airport security. Eventually they made it to their flight and they sat, Sara next to the window and Grissom next to her. Grissom was pretty tired from having worked the night before and closed his eyes once they were in the air, wanting to catch a little bit of sleep. Before he was completely out of it, he felt a sudden weight on his shoulder. His eyes popped open and he smiled at Sara's head resting on his shoulder, her brown hair spilling over his shoulder. He grabbed her hand and laced his fingers with hers. Then he closed his eyes again and fell asleep.

"Attention passengers we will be landing at Denver International Airport in approximately 15 minutes, please make sure your seats are in the upright position and your seatbelts are fastened," Grissom vaguely heard over the intercom. (A/N: believe it or not, I've never flown so I don't know realistically what kind of announcements are made)

Sara turned to him, "I was beginning to wonder if you were going to wake up on your own."

Grissom yawned, "That was a fast flight. I think it helped that I slept the whole time."

"You said you have a rental car reserved for us at the airport?" Sara asked.

"Yeah. And it's supposed to be several hours drive to the cabin," Grissom replied.

"That should be fun," Sara rolled her eyes, "a plane ride and then several more hours in a car."

"It was either that or spend a lot of money on a charter plane to a closer airport," Grissom explained.

"I'll just be glad when we get to the cabin, I want to go for a hike and look at the trees. The leaves are supposed to be beautiful this time of year," Sara said.

"There's a hiking trail that leads right from the lake through the mountains for a couple miles. The woman at the office of the little resort said that it is the best trail to view the leaves," Grissom told her.

"We're going there first," Sara said excitedly.

"I hope you'll let us get our suitcases in the cabin first," Grissom teased.

"I might," Sara laughed, "I'm sorry, it's just that I've never seen the Rocky Mountains in the fall."

A/N: They are staying at a fictional resort. I live in Colorado though, and you're supposed to write what you know, so I had them come here. I live really close to the mountains and I'm sure places similar to the one they are going to exist. If you've never seen the Rocky Mountains in the fall, you are missing out!


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: CBS is just being stingy now. They won't even answer my asking if I can have CSI except to laugh at me. Okay, so I made that up. I never wrote them a letter. But you can imagine they would react that way if I did. At any rate, I don't own CSI and recieve no profit from producing this story.

**Help Me**

**Chapter 10**

Sara was driving up the winding mountain road that led to the cabin. It was a dirt road and there were a lot of twists and turns, with a sharp drop-off on one side the whole way up.

"I'd hate to be driving on this road in the snow, I don't think I even know how to drive in the snow," Sara noted.

"It is a very twisty road," Grissom looked out over the cliff next to his window, "and a long way down if you make a mistake."

"There sure a lot of trees here," Sara eyed the pine tree branches that nearly hit their car as they drove past.

"Lots of pine trees. It's the aspen trees that are supposed to be spectacular in the fall. I only saw a few a little ways back and they were still pretty green. I hope we didn't come too early," Grissom said.

"I hope not, I was really looking forward to the leaves turning," Sara agreed.

"We'll find out when we go on our hike. We can ask when we check in at the main office," Grissom suggested, "they might know if the trees here are turning."

"Look, we're almost there," Sara exclaimed, "I saw the sign, we just have one more turn and we should be there."

"Good, I for one am tired of sitting in this car," Grissom said.

"I can't wait to get out and walk around," Sara smiled.

Sara guided the car into one of the parking spots in front of the building marked as "Crystal Lake Cabins Main Office". They got out of the car only to discover that the air here was much colder than it had been in Denver. They hadn't stopped the car for a while and hadn't realized just how much they'd gone up in altitude. The air had a definite chill to it as they went inside, to find no one at the desk. Grissom hit the little bell sitting on the desk and an elderly woman hobbled into view a minute later.

"Hello, you must be those folks from Vegas?" she looked between the two people in front of her.

"Yes, I'm Gil Grissom," Grissom stated.

"You look like a nice couple," the woman adjusted her reading glasses.

Sara blushed at this comment.

"Ah, here we are, cabin 10, that's about halfway around the lake, just follow the road," the woman handed Grissom a set of keys and Sara a little welcome basket filled with fruits, "you two enjoy your stay at Crystal Lake, come on over here if you need anything. The refrigerator should be stocked, I sent my husband, Harold, down to town yesterday to get supplies for you."

"Thanks," Sara smiled at the woman as she followed Grissom back to the car. This time Grissom got into the driver's seat to drive the short distance to their cabin.

"We forgot to ask if the leaves turned yet," Sara said suddenly as they drove down the road.

"Oh well, it doesn't really matter, we can find out for ourselves," Grissom parked the car in front of the small cabin with number ten on it, "kind of away from all the other cabins, close to the lake and looks like the hiking trail runs right behind it."

"It's definitely got a kind of rustic charm to it," Sara noted, "let's go see what it's like inside."

Grissom pulled their suitcases out of the trunk and handed the keys to Sara so she could go open the door for him. He put their luggage just inside the door as Sara found the light switch. She sat their fruit basket on the coffee table. There was a small living room with a loveseat and two chairs. The floors were wooden and there was a fireplace across from the couch. There was a small kitchen with a table, two chairs, a small fridge and a small stove. To the right were the two bedrooms with the bathroom in between. There was a small television in the living room and each bedroom was equipped with an alarm clock radio. Grissom and Sara met in the living room.

"Not too bad," Grissom observed.

"I think this place will be great to spend a week in," Sara agreed, "let's see what the left us as far as food."

Upon finding some basics: milk, cereal, items for making sandwiches, potato chips, eggs, cheese, and some cans of soup, they decided they didn't need to make a trip to the store until the next day.

"Ready to go for a little hike?" Grissom asked.

"You know it," Sara smiled at him.

"Let me just grab us a few bottles of water and the map and we should be good to go," Grissom said.

"A map?" Sara questioned.

"Just in case we get lost, there's one spot where the trail splits off and if you go the wrong way it's a five mile detour down a rough trail," Grissom explained.

"Oh, I didn't bring a camera," Sara smacked her forehead.

"I didn't think to," Grissom shook his head, "I never go on vacations."

"Wait a sec," Sara opened the fruit basket, "they thought of everything, there's a couple disposable cameras in here."

"They really did think of everything," Grissom smiled as Sara held up a pair of cameras.

"Did you bring a jacket of any sort?" Sara asked.

"Yes I did, mother, did you?" Grissom smirked.

"Yep, let me dig it out of my suitcase and we can go," Sara ruffled through her clothes.

* * *

About a half mile down the trail, Grissom and Sara stopped to sit on a fallen log.

"Man, I thought I was in good shape," Sara puffed.

"It's the altitude. We better take it slowly," Grissom returned out of breath himself.

"There's less oxygen up there, I never thought about that until now," Sara tried to slow down her breathing.

"It hit me a little when we landed at the airport, but now that we're up, well above a mile over sea-level, now it's hitting me hard," Grissom agreed.

"Maybe we should go back, save this for when we're a little more acclimated to the altitude," Sara suggested.

"That may not be such a bad idea," Grissom stood, offering Sara a hand.

Sara took the offered hand and Grissom pulled her to her feet. He wrapped an arm casually around her waist as they headed slowly back to the cabin. At first, it felt a bit awkward, but then Sara leaned closer to him as they walked. It actually felt quite good to have his arm around her waist.

As the trail got a little steeper and skinnier, they had to separate, Grissom allowing Sara to climb up the incline ahead of him. He was glad he had a second later, as her a rock slid out from under her feet, sending her tumbling backwards. Grissom caught her, but she hit him hard enough to knock him over too. They landed hard on the ground, with Sara on top of Grissom. She rolled off quickly to make sure she hadn't hurt him.

"Watch your step," Grissom wheezed, having had the breath knocked out of him.

Sara got up on her knees and burst into laughter at his comment, "You're a little late."

Grissom sat up, smiling, "Well, it's a warning for next time then. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I nearly crushed you though, are _you_ okay?" Sara asked seriously.

"I'm all right Sara, you're not that heavy, really, I just wasn't expecting you to come flying at me like that," Grissom said.

"And I wasn't expecting that rock to slide out form under me," Sara grinned.

"Rocks can be tricky," Grissom winked, as Sara helped pull him to his feet again.

"I found that out the hard way," Sara shook her head.

On the second attempt, Grissom stayed close behind Sara, with his hands on her lower back guiding her up the incline. They both made it successfully and the cabin was in view. They headed inside and decided it was time for dinner. Sara made them sandwiches while Grissom started a fire.

"Oh, that fire already feels good," Sara sat next to Grissom on the loveseat.

"Let's watch the local news and see what we're in for as far as the weather," Grissom turned on the television.

"...and we might be seeing a little bit of snow in the high country overnight," the weatherman said.

"Snow?" Sara's eyes grew wide, "I don't think I am prepared for snow, my jacket's too light for snow."

"If it does snow, we'll just stick to indoor activities," Grissom decided.

"There's not much to do here, Gris," Sara glanced around the room.

"Sara, sweetie, I think it's okay for you to call my by first name now," Grissom looked into her eyes.

"I'm sorry. I'm not used to calling you Gil. It seems strange," Sara smiled, "I've known you for so long and I've never called you by your first name."

"Don't think I didn't wonder about that for years, I thought maybe you didn't know it," Grissom teased.

"Ha ha, you are so funny," Sara rolled her eyes at him.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I am pretty tired after the early flight and the long drive from the airport. I know it's still somewhat early, but I am tired," Grissom yawned, as if to prove his point.

Sara cocked her head, "That's right, you didn't really sleep today, except for the flight."

"If it doesn't snow too much, we can try that hike again tomorrow," Grissom offered with a tired smile.

"Sounds good to me," Sara watched him head for the bedroom he was staying in. The idea of him sleeping in the room next to hers was a little nerve-wracking. She was still trying to get used to the idea that they had actually admitted their feelings to one another. After all the years of playing games, they both realized that they were being silly. It felt good to finally know she had Grissom for herself. It hurt her to even watch him interact with other women, he wasn't exactly the flirting type, but something about anyone other than herself getting his attention upset her. Now she would have plenty of his attention.

A/N: I had a mild case of writer's block for this chapter. I'm still not sure if I like it, but I can always come back later and change it. Oh well, thanks for your patience. I hope to get the next chapter out soon.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: CBS is just being stingy now. They won't even answer my asking if I can have CSI except to laugh at me. Okay, so I made that up. I never wrote them a letter. But you can imagine they would react that way if I did. At any rate, I don't own CSI and recieve no profit from producing this story.

**Help Me**

**Chapter 11**

Sara woke up pretty early the next morning. She stretched out in the bed and realized that she was not at home. She sat up and looked around the cabin bedroom. She remembered that it might have snowed the night before and she jumped up to see if it had. She hadn't seen snow in a long time. She threw back the curtains to find that if it had snowed, it was already gone. Sara was a little disappointed that it hadn't snowed, but was also glad that they could try their hike again today. She got quickly dressed and went to see if Grissom was awake yet.

"Good morning, Sara," Grissom was already eating a bowl of cereal.

"Good morning, Gil," Sara remembered to use his first name.

"Did you sleep well?" Grissom asked.

"Yes I did, how about you?" Sara returned.

"I slept great. Looks like we pretty much missed the snowstorm. The peaks in the distance got dusted, but we are still dry here," Grissom explained.

"Yeah, first thing I did was look out the window. I was almost a little disappointed. I guess I was hoping it would snow because I don't even remember the last time I saw it snow," Sara said.

"There's still a chance for it to snow again tonight, I watched the weather this morning. It's supposed to be a little chilly today, but good weather for a hike," Grissom smiled.

"But first we were going to make a trip down to the store right?" Sara asked.

"Good idea, we should get that out of the way," Grissom agreed.

"Let me just grab something to eat and we can go," Sara searched the cupboards for something quick to eat. She settled on having a piece of toast and a peach from the fruit basket.

They drove to the main office and asked for the nearest grocery store. The old man, Harold, directed them to take the road back a few miles to the little town they passed on their way in. They had a small market where they could buy whatever it was they needed. Grissom thanked the man and then got back in the car.

"How far is it?" Sara asked, as he slid into the driver's seat.

"It's just back down the road a few miles, that little town we passed on our way up here," Grissom explained.

"I don't remember seeing any stores," Sara furrowed her eyebrows.

"The old man said there was a little market," Grissom said, "I'm inclined to believe since he's lived here for a long time."

"I believe him, I just don't remember seeing one," Sara started, "what was the name of the little town anyway?"

"Aspen Valley, according to the old man," Grissom supplied.

"Well that man is just a fountain of knowledge isn't he," Sara joked.

"I think when you spend a good portion of your life somewhere, you tend to be a good source of information," Grissom smiled.

"Wow, there was an elk running through the trees over there, too bad I didn't have the camera ready," Sara said.

"I have heard there is a lot of wildlife in Rocky Mountain National Park. So we're pretty close to it and we're bound to see some here too," Grissom commented.

"I know, it's just that we don't get that kind of wildlife in Vegas, the stuff we see there is of an entirely different breed," Sara shook her head at the thought of some of the crazy people she'd met in her time in Vegas.

* * *

"Let's take a picnic lunch with us," Sara suggested as they were preparing to go on their hike, "according to the map there's a spot about halfway along the trail that has picnic tables."

"Okay, that's a good idea actually," Grissom headed for the kitchen to make sandwiches.

"I don't think I've ever been on a picnic," Sara laughed, "how about you?"

"You know, I don't think I have either," Grissom said.

"Well I'd say having one for the first time together is perfect then," Sara smiled brightly.

"I wouldn't want to with anyone else," Grissom agreed.

"Me either," Sara continued to smile.

Grissom felt lost in the moment. Sara was so beautiful standing there in front of him, smiling. He felt like pinching himself to make sure that this was real. Sara's brown eyes caught his and she gave him a questioning look.

"I'm sorry," Grissom broke her stare, "I was just admiring you. Sara, you are so beautiful."

Sara's jaw nearly dropped, she couldn't believe he had just said those words. She wasn't sure what to do, so she just stood there dumbly staring at him. Her mind tried to tell her to say something, anything to break the awkward silence, but her mouth would not obey.

Grissom was having a hard time believing his words himself. He moved closer to Sara and put his hands gently on either side of her face. He searched her eyes and then tenderly pulled her into a kiss. To his great relief, she didn't freak out or pull away, but rather returned the kiss. When they parted Grissom smiled at Sara who looked mildly surprised.

"I can't believe I just did that," Grissom whispered.

"Neither can I," Sara almost laughed, "but I'm glad you did. It felt...I don't know, right."

"It did," Grissom agreed softly, "I've never acted this way before. I keep surprising myself. The only thing I can think of to explain it is love. I think, I mean I, uh...I love you Sara."

Sara was so nervous herself she had to fight not to laugh at his nervousness, "I love you too, Gil."

Grissom let out the breath he wasn't aware that he had been holding. It felt so good to hear those words. He never risked saying something like that for fear of it not being said back to him. Sara turned away with a slight smile on her face to finish packing their lunch and hiking gear. Grissom felt almost like he was floating when she was near him. He knew for a fact now that he was in love. The idea of being in love with Sara suddenly didn't frighten him, it just felt like it was meant to be. Of course he was not the type to believe in cosmic destiny or anything like that, but he was pretty sure love was beginning to cloud his otherwise entirely logical mind.

"Ready to go?" Sara asked, breaking him out of his thoughts.

"Yes I am," Grissom took the offered hand and they set off down the trail.

A/N: I don't know if that was necessarily where I planned to end this chapter, but I figured with Fall Break coming up next week I may not have time to get up any chapters for a while. Also with the site being read-only for a few days, I thought I should get up a quick chapter first.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I don't own CSI and recieve no profit from producing this story.

**Help Me**

**Chapter 12**

Sara and Grissom found the picnic table in a clearing surrounded by golden aspen trees. They had a beautiful view of some distant snow-capped peaks. They side-by-side and ate their lunch slowly, enjoying the view in silence. They hadn't seen anyone else on the trail because they were the only ones staying at the resort during this part of the year. It was busy during the summer months and the ski season. It was still too early in the year for the ski resorts to be open. It was a nice, quiet, calming place to be staying, just what they both needed.

"Do you think they're surviving at the crime lab without you?" Sara asked when they had finished their meal.

"Catherine is fully capable of doing my job," Grissom replied.

"I know she is," Sara agreed, "maybe one of these days she'll get Ecklie's job because we know you're not quitting for a while."

"Actually, if you promise not to tell, Ecklie will be getting a promotion soon and I'm recommending Catherine for the job. She has the most experience and seniority of all the current CSIs," Grissom said.

"Wow, I bet Catherine will be happy when she finds that out. I think she has been wanting to move to days for a while now," Sara said.

"So, how about this view?" Grissom asked.

"It's great, I've never seen anything so pretty," Sara looked out over the golden and red trees and snow capped peaks.

"I like it too," Grissom smiled and put an arm around Sara, "and I'm glad I can share it with someone I love."

"Me too," Sara laid her head on Grissom's shoulder.

"I don't want to leave, but I know at some point we're going to have to move," Grissom sighed.

"We can stay for a while longer though," Sara grabbed his free hand and kissed it gently.

Grissom smiled at Sara's gesture. He was so happy to have her here in his arms. He was glad that he'd finally been able to admit his feelings to her. His life had felt empty, like it was missing something and he had the feeling Sara would quickly fill that void. As they sat, the wind began to pick up and Grissom could feel Sara shivering.

"Shall we head back?" Grissom asked.

"I think so, it's getting colder," Sara let go of his hand and gathered their gear.

"If it wasn't so cold, I'd give you my coat," Grissom winked.

"I wouldn't take it from you," Sara smiled, "but I am flattered that you would even consider it."

"Make sure you don't fall on the way back this time," Grissom teased as they headed back onto the trail, hand in hand.

"Very funny," Sara elbowed him in the side.

"I bet you didn't know I was a comedian," Grissom laughed.

Sara burst out laughing, "I'm sorry Gil, but you're pretty much the most serious person I know."

"It's true, I am very serious about my job, but I can have fun too," Grissom assured, "for instance I love riding roller coasters."

"I was never wild about roller coasters," Sara shook her head, "I guess I just never got the point of scaring yourself half to death to have fun."

"The thrill is the point," Grissom said, "we should ride one together some time. There's a Six Flags theme park in Denver, but we'd have to leave here if we wanted to go."

"Is it even open at this time of year?" she asked.

"I'm pretty sure they stay open through Halloween," he answered.

"If you really want to go, I will," she offered.

"I don't want to go if you don't want to," Grissom stopped.

"No, I want to go," Sara assured him, "I haven't been to an amusement park in a long time."

"We can just leave here Friday night, find a hotel in Denver, and go to Six Flags on Saturday. Then it's only about an hour to the airport from Denver," Grissom said excitedly.

Sara had agreed to go because she could tell Grissom wanted to. She wasn't entirely wild about amusement parks, but if Grissom wanted to go, she wouldn't mind going with him. It wasn't so much that she was afraid of rides or anything, she just never got terribly into amusement park rides. Roller coasters were Grissom's thing though, and she was sure it would further help with the relaxation part of the trip for him.

* * *

"Not to see Elitch's is not to see Denver, see Sara, we almost missed seeing Denver," Grissom pointed at the sign on the 100-year-old Ferris wheel.

"I don't know what I would have done if we had missed Denver," Sara rolled her eyes.

"You realize that sign is probably as old as the Ferris wheel itself," Grissom noted.

"I wouldn't want to go on a ride that's more than a hundred years old," Sara eyed the giant wheel, "didn't the ticket lady say it was 102 years old?"

"Yeah. Let's go on a roller coaster," Grissom pulled Sara in the direction of the roller coasters.

The park was relatively empty, it was ten in the morning on a Saturday in October. They found the first roller coaster, the Sidewinder. It was a simple coaster, but it was a loop-de-loop and Grissom loved the feeling of going upside-down. They climbed the ten flights of stairs to the top and found no one else was in line, so they got to sit in the front car and go twice in a row.

"I wouldn't want to climb all those stairs again," Sara when they were heading down, "the altitude here isn't as bad, but I'm still slow to catch my breath."

"We're a mile above sea-level, you know Denver is the 'Mile High City'. It's okay though, I got pretty winded on the way up too," Grissom gave Sara a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

"So, what next?" Sara asked.

"The Mind Eraser," Grissom smiled.

"That sounds fun," Sara said sarcastically, "the Mind Eraser?"

"It's a steel coaster, your legs dangle in the air, it should be fun," Grissom grinned.

"You really are crazy when it comes to roller coasters, it's like you're a teenager," Sara couldn't help but smile too.

"It's the one thing I never outgrew," Grissom pulled her into the queue line. There were a handful of other people in line, but they got on the first train.

When they arrived back in the station Sara leaned forward and said, "I don't think my mind was erased."

"I think if you went several times in a row, your mind would start to erase," Grissom said.

"Let's not do that," Sara shook her head, "there are other rides here to try."

"They have a couple of more unique roller coasters here. I've never tried either kind," Grissom explained, "there's the Flying Coaster where you lay down on your stomach and it's like you're flying, Superman-style. Then there's the newest addition to the park, the Half Pipe."

"Where did you get all this information about the park?" Sara asked incredulous, "we've been here maybe twenty minutes and you're an expert."

"I got online last night, I was bored and I looked into all the roller coasters," Grissom smiled.

Sara shook her head, a smile on her face, "You are too funny."

"How about the Tower of Doom, while we're here," Grissom pointed to the tower in front of them.

Sara's eyes grew wide, "That thing looks insane."

"They take you up to the top, then let you free fall back down," Grissom explained.

"Are you sure?" Sara asked.

"Are you afraid of heights, Sara?" Grissom swung around to look at her.

"Maybe a little," Sara blushed.

"It's okay, it will be fun, I'll hold your hand if you want," Grissom offered.

"Okay, I'll do it for you," Sara took his hand and they got in line. Her nerves started to get to her as they waited. Before she knew it, it was their turn to go. Grissom sat directly next to her and grabbed her hand. As they started the ascent, Sara closed her eyes, hoping that would make things better.

"Wow, you can see for miles up here," Grissom breathed.

Sara opened her eyes just in time for the operator to let the cars go. She let out a scream as they fell 220 feet. She felt herself float up against the shoulder restraint, momentarily weightless. Seconds later she was on the ground again and Grissom was helping her remove her restraints. She stood up shakily and leaned on Grissom as they walked away.

"So, what'd you think?" Grissom asked.

"It was…it was…just, wow!" Sara managed to spit out.

Grissom laughed, "Is that good or bad?"

"Good," Sara grinned, "that was definitely thrilling."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it. Now how about the wooden coaster? That should be a nice transition from falling over 200 feet," Grissom suggested.

"Works for me," Sara said, "just lead the way."

They were able to ride every single roller coaster by noon. They stopped to have lunch, then hit most of the coasters again, stopping to try some of the other rides on their way this time. It was nearly time for them to go, but they had about twenty minutes before they had to leave.

"How about a ride on the Ferris wheel?" Grissom asked.

"That old thing? I suppose, we've ridden just about everything else but the kiddy rides," Sara shrugged her shoulders.

"All right then, ladies first," Grissom gestured for Sara to enter the line first. There was a couple ahead of them and as soon as Grissom and Sara boarded their gondola, they were whisked to the top of the ride and stopped as some other cars unloaded.

"Wow, there's a great view of the rest of the park from up here," Sara commented, "and pretty much all of Denver for that matter."

"I'm looking at the prettiest thing here," Grissom said, looking at Sara's beautiful face.

Sara's cheeks flushed cherry red, "Thanks."

"I mean it, Sara, you are beautiful. I'm glad we could take this trip together. I feel so much more calm and relaxed," Grissom smiled and stroked a stray strand of hair behind Sara's ear.

"I'm glad you came with me," Sara agreed with a smile.

"You have no idea how much I love to see you smile," Grissom placed a gentle kiss on her lips.

A/N: Since I talked about some of the coasters at Six Flags Elitch Gardens, here's a link to their rides if you want to see what they look like and read a brief description of them: Personally, I am freaked out by the Ferris wheel, I can do all the roller coasters just fine, but put me on the Ferris wheel and I start getting all nervous, go figure!

This chapter was a lot longer than I had intended for it to be, I hope it's not too boring. And since the site was down, it's now Thanksgiving, so Happy Thanksgiving to those of you in the US.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: CBS is just being stingy now. They won't even answer my asking if I can have CSI except to laugh at me. Okay, so I made that up. I never wrote them a letter. But you can imagine they would react that way if I did. At any rate, I don't own CSI and recieve no profit from producing this story.

**Help Me**

**Chapter 13**

"Hey guys, good to see you," Warrick spotted Sara and Grissom as they entered the lab together.

"Hello Warrick," Sara smiled.

"Hi," Grissom greeted.

"How was your vacation, boss?" Warrick inquired.

"It was very relaxing," Grissom smiled.

"Good, and how are you Sara?" Warrick asked.

"I'm feeling good, glad to be getting back to work," Sara said truthfully.

"It's been too long, it's good to have you back," Warrick said seriously.

"I've missed you guys all," Sara sighed, "all that time just laying around and taking it easy. It drives me nuts when I'm not allowed to come to work."

Warrick laughed, "Yeah, you are definitely the type who loves to work."

"So, what's wrong with that?" Sara asked.

"Absolutely nothing, at least not when you're as good at your job as you are, Sara," Grissom put in.

"Sara!" Greg popped out of the locker room.

"Hey Greg," Sara laughed, "happy to see me?"

"You could say that, I'm sorry, I get excitable," Greg smirked.

"Like an annoying little dog," Warrick added.

"Hey! What'd I ever do to you?" Greg pouted.

"Nothing man, you're just annoying at times," Warrick said.

"Well I have to get to my office, I'll see you in a little while for our briefing," Grissom left the trio of CSIs standing alone.

"So how are you feeling these days?" Greg asked.

"I'm feeling so much better," Sara started, "I mean it might take me a few days to get back into the groove of working. My sleep schedule got all thrown off on my time off, but I think I will be fine."

"Good to hear," Greg crossed his arms over his chest.

"It was pretty boring this last week, sitting around at home," Sara lied, the rest of them still didn't know about her and Grissom and she intended to keep it that way.

"We missed you around here, especially this last week, with a new person working with us. The girl that filled in from dayshift was nice enough, but she's not you," Warrick explained.

"How about Catherine, I hear she filled in for Gris for a week?" Sara inquired.

"She handled the job like a pro, too bad Grissom's not going anywhere any time soon, I think she liked being in his position," Greg answered.

At this point, Nick Stokes spotted his three friends standing around talking and took his opportunity to sneak up on them. Sara was the only one with her back directly turned to Nick, so he made a signal to Greg and Warrick not to pay attention to him. He got right behind Sara and she swung around.

"Hello Nick!" she exclaimed.

"How did you do that?" he jumped back slightly.

"Come on, I saw Warrick and Greg look behind me and I knew it was you," Sara smiled, proud of herself.

"Good to see you, Sidle," Nick hugged his friend.

"Good to see you too, Nicky," Sara embraced him.

"How are you doing?" Nick inquired in a brotherly way, "you ready to come back to work?"

"I'm fine," Sara assured him, "I was the one who insisted to Grissom that I come back."

* * *

"Hello Catherine," Grissom leaned against the door frame, smiling at the sight of Catherine sitting at his desk.

"Oh hi, Gil," Catherine looked up from her work, "feeling rested?"

"Very," Grissom replied, "is the place driving you nuts yet?"

"No, actually I enjoyed the job. I mean, the paperwork is no picnic, but other than that, I felt very at home in your office," Catherine smiled.

"I shouldn't be worried about you trying to steal my job, now should I?" Grissom asked teasingly.

"I'd never steal from you, Gil," Catherine assured him.

"That's very good to hear," Grissom said, "so, how did things go around here?"

"Pretty smooth. Oh! We caught our 'Raspy Robber' on Thursday night," Catherine suddenly remembered.

"Good, I was getting tired of coming in to hear that he had struck again," Grissom sighed in relief, "how did you find him?"

"He got careless," Catherine said with a slight grin, "he forgot to wear his gloves, he left fingerprints all over a gas station. Turns out that gun he was carrying was a fake. He said he knew that he would get caught at some point and when the time came he'd give up without a fight. Sure enough, when we showed up at his place, he was waiting for us."

"That guy was so cocky," Grissom shook his head, "glad he's off the streets. Anything else interesting happen around here?"

"Not really, the girl from dayshift fit in fine," Catherine stated, "but of course everyone went on about how much they missed Sara. They'll all be thrilled to see her again. Oh and I'm sure they missed you too, they just didn't say so."

"Thanks Cath, that makes me feel so loved," Grissom pretended to be hurt.

Catherine laughed, "Well I think it was more of a matter of everyone was just so happy to see you finally take a vacation."

"Yeah, I'm not the type who takes time off for the heck of it," Grissom smiled at the memories of the week he'd spent with Sara.

"Did you do anything exciting?" Catherine asked.

"Actually I did, I went to the Six Flags theme park in Denver, I rode all the roller coasters," Grissom replied.

"Ah, the man who loves roller coasters," Catherine said knowingly, "I bet you had a blast."

"They had a couple of unique coasters there, it was just nice to ride something different, coasters I'd never been on before," Grissom said.

"I'm glad you had took some time off to just enjoy yourself, Gil, you needed it," Catherine said.

Just then, Greg popped his head into Grissom's office, "Am I interrupting anything important?"

"Not really, why Greg, what is it?" Grissom asked.

"Uh, I needed to speak to Catherine…about that case from last night," Greg explained nervously.

"What? We didn't work on a case last night," Catherine started, but caught a look from Greg and suddenly realized, "oh! Okay, let's go."

Grissom gave Catherine a questioning look, but she waved it off as she followed the youngest member of their team away from Grissom's office. Once they were safely away from Grissom, Greg began to speak.

"So I looked into it, like you asked me. Turns out Grissom bought two tickets to Colorado," Greg grinned, "between that and Sara not being home like she said, I'd be willing to make a bet on who went with Grissom."

"I think you would be correct, Greg," Catherine smiled, "so Grissom and Sara, after all these years."

"We don't know it for sure," Greg warned.

"Oh come on, they took a vacation together, what other signs do you need from them?" Catherine asked.

"You're right. Grissom would never go on a trip with her unless they were a couple," Greg agreed.

"The fun is now, how do we let them know we have it figured out?" Catherine wondered aloud.

"You have what figured out?" Sara asked innocently as she entered the room.

"Nothing," Greg said a little too quickly.

Sara frowned, "O-kay. I'm going to pretend I never heard that and just back away."

"Whatever we do, it has to be soon," Catherine whispered, "they're both suspicious of us now."

"They'll never guess what we know," Greg said, "they just think we're weird."

"Greg, they _know_ you're weird," Catherine couldn't help but add.

"So are we going to have fun with this or what?" Greg asked.

A/N: I am trying to think of some way for Catherine and Greg to have a little bit of fun with Grissom and Sara…I may have an idea, but I'm not sure. If you have a brilliant idea, please share it with me. I think the next chapter may be the final.


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: CBS is just being stingy now. They won't even answer my asking if I can have CSI except to laugh at me. Okay, so I made that up. I never wrote them a letter. But you can imagine they would react that way if I did. At any rate, I don't own CSI and recieve no profit from producing this story.

**Help Me**

**Chapter 14**

"Are you really going to make me do this?" Greg asked for the tenth time.

"Come on Greg, don't you want to have fun with them?" Catherine asked.

"Yeah, you're the best man for the job anyway, everyone knows you used to have a crush on Sara," Warrick added. Catherine had filled Nick and him in on the fun.

"Just do it man," Nick urged.

"You're all nuts, you know that right?" Greg asked.

"And you're a big chicken," Catherine countered.

"Fine!" Greg gave in, "but only to toy with them."

"This should be fun to watch," Warrick grinned.

"Wait, how are we all going to watch this without being obvious?" Nick asked.

"Greggo, here, is going to do it when we're all waiting for assignments. I'll give him a signal when Grissom is about to show up and then he can start the fun," Catherine explained.

"You guys are going to owe me big time if Grissom flips out, you know that, right?" Greg asked.

"Just let us worry about that if it happens," Warrick said.

"We'll bail you out if it starts looking bad," Nick assured him, "besides, I'd be more worried about Sara if I was you."

"I believe I just saw Sara go into the break room," Catherine announced with a smile.

"Okay, we can't all go at the same time, it'll look funny," Greg said, "I'll let you guys go first."

"You better not run," Catherine warned him.

"I won't!" Greg exclaimed.

Nick shook his head and stepped forward to be the first to enter the room. He strolled casually into the room where Sara was settling down with a cup of coffee.

"Hey Nicky," she smiled brightly.

"Hello Sara," Nick poured himself a cup of coffee, "how are things going?"

"Good," Sara answered, "it's nice to be back at work."

"I bet, I don't think I could take all that time off, just sitting alone at home. I know Grissom visited you a couple times, but then he left town, so you must have been nearly insane with boredom," Nick said.

"Just about," Sara laughed, "there's not a whole lot to do when you are stuck in your apartment and ordered to rest."

"Hey guys, what's up?" Warrick entered, closely followed by Catherine.

"Hi," Sara greeted them.

"Talking about anything interesting?" Catherine asked.

"No, not really," Nick replied.

"Here you all are, I was wondering where you disappeared to," Greg made his entrance. He made a point to go directly to sit next Sara.

"Where else would we be? Grissom should be here any minute to hand out assignments," Catherine said.

"Oh, right," Greg said, "so…um…I…I…I can't do it!"

"Do what?" Grissom asked as he entered the room.

"GREG!" Catherine exclaimed.

"No! You can't order me around. Look, Grissom, Sara, we know you two went on vacation together. These guys wanted me to hit on Sara in front of you to make you admit that you're dating," Greg blurted.

"What?" Sara jumped up.

"We might as well tell them," Grissom grabbed her hand as she moved to stand next to him, "Sara and I are dating. This is sure not how I would have wanted to tell you guys, but you're smart, I knew you'd figure it out. How _did_ you figure it out?"

Catherine was incredulous, "You're not mad?"

"No, we would have told you soon enough anyway," Sara said.

"I had a hunch and I made Greg do some dirty work for me," Catherine admitted, "I went to visit Sara last week, figuring she'd be lonely. When she wasn't there, I had Greg find out that Grissom bought two tickets to Colorado. So we figured Sara must have gone with you. Last night I decided to have some fun with you, but Greg can't even play a joke right!"

"I'm sorry, but I didn't want to mess with Grissom and Sara," Greg crossed his arms defensively, "I respect them."

"You're just kissing up because you want to be a CSI," Nick shook his head.

"It's actually probably a good idea you didn't try to hit on me Greg," Sara laughed, "I just might have hit you."

"You really thought you could trick this information out of us?" Grissom asked.

"I just thought it would be a fun way to get you two to admit that you were dating," Catherine said.

"We all knew you two liked each other, it's been obvious to us for years," Warrick piped up.

"Has it?" Sara asked in surprise.

"Don't tell me you guys didn't notice it?" Nick asked.

"I didn't," Grissom furrowed his brow.

"Man, I always thought you were just playing games with each other," Warrick laughed.

"You seriously didn't notice it?" Catherine questioned.

"I have liked Grissom for a while, but I never thought my feelings would be returned," Sara answered honestly.

"You guys really all thought we should be dating?" Grissom inquired.

"I've thought so ever since Sara came to Las Vegas," Catherine grinned, "but that doesn't matter now. I'm glad to see you two happy together. How was your little trip to Colorado?"

"Nice. It was relaxing. We stayed at this little cabin in the mountains. Then he drug me to an amusement park," Sara said teasingly.

"You said you wanted to go," Grissom defended himself.

"Grissom and his roller coasters," Warrick shook his head.

"What else did you do?" Nick asked.

"When we were in the mountains, we took a couple hikes, nothing terribly exciting," Sara said.

"Are there any pictures?" Greg asked mischievously.

"As a matter of fact, I brought them with me tonight," Sara pulled out some pictures, "I just had them developed, haven't even looked at them myself."

"Anything good?" Greg teased.

"If by good you mean beautiful scenery, then yes," Grissom answered pointedly.

They flipped through the pictures: snow capped peaks, fiery and golden leaves, the crystal blue lake, all the wonderful fall scenery of the Rocky Mountains. There was a picture of Sara sitting on a rock with the lake behind her, snow capped mountains in the background. Then they came to pictures from Six Flags. There was one of Grissom with his arm around Sara under the Ferris wheel.

"Looks like you two really had a good time," Catherine said slyly.

"Yes we did," Grissom agreed.

"It was just what I needed to get myself ready to come back to work," Sara admitted, "sorry we lied to you guys."

"It's all right," Nick responded, "I, for one, am just glad to see you two happy."

"Nick's right, we just want to see you guys have some fun for a change. You both work too hard sometimes," Warrick added.

"I think we will be happy for a long time," Grissom smiled and turned to Sara.

She raised her eyebrows, "Is that so?"

"Yes, Sara, I love you," Grissom said.

"I love you too," Sara wrapped her arms around him.

"I think that's our cue to leave," Catherine ushered the rest of them out, "don't worry, Gil, I'll hand out the assignments, you two take your time."

A/N: I'm not sure that turned out precisely the way I wanted it to. I hope that you enjoyed the ending and that it's not too...phony sounding. I had a hard time trying to get the ending right. At any rate, thank you to all who have read and all who have reviewed the story. I may have another CSI story in the works.


End file.
